TheCable

The Action Alliance (AA) says Lauretta Onochie, presidential aide, should reject her nomination as a commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Lauretta was nominated as an INEC commissioner by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2020.

Her nomination sparked outrage over concerns that she is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but the presidential aide said she resigned her membership of the ruling party in 2019.

TheCable found Onochie’s claim to be false.

Addressing a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, Adekunle Omoaje, AA national chairman, said Onochie’s neutrality as an election umpire will always be in doubt if the senate confirms her.

“You will be asking that she is a former member of APC and now she wants to be an umpire. How can it be fair? That is the moral aspect of it. There is no law to say that if you are a former politician, you cannot serve at INEC or any position,” Omoaje said.

“Even if she is trying to be fair, nobody will still believe her. If I were her, I wouldn’t take that kind of position.”

The chairman also said the transmission of election results electronically is what Nigerians want.

“I believe that no rep member or senator can raise his or her hand in that chamber to say they do not want what Nigerians want,” he said.

“Let’s take the news of some lawmakers kicking against the bill as a rumour. I want to believe that we have distinguished senators that cannot try it.”

Speaking on insecurity, Omoaje described banditry and insurgency as “lucrative businesses” in the north.

“Insurgency and banditry have become lucrative businesses, especially in the northern part of the country. There is palpable fear that if the status quo remains, banditry will spread to other parts of the country,” he said.

“For us at Action Alliance, we reiterate that the most important duty of the government is to secure lives and properties.”

The chairman added that the AA is the most “youth friendly” party in the country.